1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel resin compositions having excellent surface lubricity, and more specifically to resin compositions having extremely good surface lubricity and also superb abrasion resistance and mechanical strength. Further, this invention is concerned with a process for the production of the resin compositions and also with products using the resin compositions.
2) Description of the Related Art
Resin composition s having excellent surface lubricity have found utility as mechanical parts such as gears, cams and levers, pipes for transporting materials or articles such as pressurized air carrying optical fiber feeding pipes, and sliding members such as guide rollers.
As a conventional method for improving the surface lubricity of a molded or otherwise formed resin body (hereinafter collectively called the "formed body"), it is known as the simplest method to coat the surface of the formed body with silicone oil as a lubricant.
Such a conventional method is however accompanied by the problem that the silicone oil present on the surface of the formed body is gradually lost through contact with other objects and lubricating effect of the silicone oil does not last over a long period. The conventional method involves the additional problem that the objects so contacted are smeared with the silicone oil.
With a view toward overcoming the problems described above, a process has been proposed to obtain a formed body by using a resin composition with a lubricant component such as silicone oil mixed in a resin.
The formed body obtained from the resin composition, which contains the lubricant component incorporated in the resin, has a certain degree of lubricity. To allow the formed body to exhibit a high degree of lubricity, however, addition of a great deal of silicone oil is needed, leading to problems such that the resulting resin composition shows reduced formability or moldability and can provide only formed bodies of reduced mechanical strength. Even if lubricity can be imparted to a possible maximum degree at the sacrifice of mechanical strength, the lubricity so attained is still not fully satisfactory for the above-described applications.